


cold

by fallingyoonjin



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Basically, Billy dies, M/M, steve grieves, the battle of starcourt, there's not enough fics about billy's death me thinks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:02:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27194830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallingyoonjin/pseuds/fallingyoonjin
Summary: there’s no last goodbyes. there’s no closure. it’s not like in the movies, where one strokes another’s cheek and smiles and says a tearful ‘i love you’.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	cold

**Author's Note:**

> my first harringrove fic!!! even though i've been reading about them since 2017, back when there was only 7 pages about them. damn does time fly. anyway, cw for death obviously.

there’s no last goodbyes. there’s no closure. it’s not like in the movies, where one strokes another’s cheek and smiles and says a tearful ‘i love you’.

it’s tears blurring steve’s eyes so he can’t even see billy’s face. it’s wishing he hadn’t wiped them off, because now he _can_ see billy’s face. his features are marred and battered close to unrecognition. his nose is crooked, jaw dislocated, teeth falling out. his eyes are dull and wide open, staring into nothing while blood mats his lashes.

his torso is no better, his chest ripped open, ribs peeking out of the mess of blood and muscle, but they’d covered his body with coats before max could see. he doesn’t look like billy, but steve knows it’s him and that’s enough.

he can’t really process what’s happening around him, his ears ringing loudly as the background noise fades into nothing. it’s like he’s underwater. wishes he was, wishes he could drown and never emerge ever again.

someone’s tugging at his arm, but he can’t look away from billy. knows that if he does, he’ll never be able to see him again. they’ll take him away, bury him or maybe cremate him, and steve’s not ready to let go yet. probably never will. it feels like it’s his heart that got torn out instead of billy’s.

he gasps as he chokes on a sob. when did he start sobbing? he doesn’t know what’s going on anymore, can’t focus on anyone else than the cold body draped over his lap. it’s too cold. billy was never cold, even when he refused to wear shirts that didn’t show off his chest, no matter that hawkins isn’t california, not even in the summer. there was always blazing fire in his eyes, in his walk, on his skin, in his voice. he shouldn’t be cold. steve tries to tug billy closer, wraps the coat over him tighter. faintly registers max’s hiccuping cries somewhere from his left.

billy’s skin is dirty, bloody, torn apart, but steve leans down anyway and presses a kiss to his forehead. he stays there for a beat longer, letting himself have this one last time. he doesn’t think he’s ever seen billy be quiet this long, exhales a humourless laugh against his skin when he realizes all it took was dying to shut him up.

“steve. steve, come on, hopper’s here. they’ll have to take billy.”

it’s robin, gently holding his shoulder. if he looked, he’d see the pity in her eyes. he doesn’t. keeps his eyes on billy instead, presses every part of him carefully into memory. it’s not how he wants to remember billy, wants the tanned, muscled boy with wild, blonde curls and a shit-eating grin, blue eyes glittering in the moonlight, but. beggars can’t be choosers. a shaky exhale.

“yeah. okay.”

he didn’t even get to say goodbye.


End file.
